I’d like to begin this post by admitting that I am turkey-challenged. It’s the one thing that I can’t seem to have come out right, ever…until now. Yes, I devoted a whole weekend in December to finding a turkey recipe that I could make and have work. And while this one wasn’t perfect, (it wasn’t quite as moist as I was hoping for — that was my own fault for not checking it about 10 minutes earlier), it was pretty damn good.

It was the moistest turkey I’ve ever made (yes, I realize that’s not saying a lot). But, seriously, I almost can’t wait until next Thanksgiving to pop this one out of the kitchen to cheers and gasps of amazement. Even jwa, who is not a big fan of turkey, thought this was “pretty good.” Hey, I’ll take it.

And the sauce. Oh my . . . → Read More: Cranberry-Molasses Glazed Turkey]]>

I’d like to begin this post by admitting that I am turkey-challenged. It’s the one thing that I can’t seem to have come out right, ever…until now. Yes, I devoted a whole weekend in December to finding a turkey recipe that I could make and have work. And while this one wasn’t perfect, (it wasn’t quite as moist as I was hoping for — that was my own fault for not checking it about 10 minutes earlier), it was pretty damn good.

It was the moistest turkey I’ve ever made (yes, I realize that’s not saying a lot). But, seriously, I almost can’t wait until next Thanksgiving to pop this one out of the kitchen to cheers and gasps of amazement. Even jwa, who is not a big fan of turkey, thought this was “pretty good.” Hey, I’ll take it.

And the sauce. Oh my god, the sauce. I seriously could have slurped that down with a straw.

So, come next Thanksgiving, if I am making a feast, I will be making a turkey (is it wrong to have even started a menu? This, with smoked gouda mashed potatoes and some kind of sauteed greens to start).

I’m so happy to finally have a turkey recipe even I can’t ruin. Plus, a big bonus with this turkey is that it can sit out, after the initial roasting, for 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. That’s oven time you can use for something else! Something baked and cheesy! Yay!

There’s not as many pictures here because turkey-makin’ is hard work.

Cranberry-Molasses Glazed Turkey
Adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated.
1 (12- to 14-pound) turkey, giblets and neck removed and reserved for another use
2 tbsp + 2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp baking powder
2 large onions, peeled and halved
Glaze
3 cups apple cider
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup mild molasses
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Okay, the first part is: butterfly the turkey. This basically means you use kitchen shears or a knife and cut out the back bone (I’ve found this to be pretty easy with shears). If you’ve done this to a chicken before, it’s pretty much the same, just bigger. You’ll need a big work surface, because it may get messy. After you’ve got the back bone out, flip it over and push down on the breast area to flatten it out a bit. *crack* Done. Here’s a video that shows how to do it pretty well.

Using your fingers, carefully separate skin from thighs and breast. Using a skewer or fork, poke 15 to 20 holes in fat deposits on breast halves and thighs. Rub bone side (what was the inside of the turkey) evenly with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper.

Flip turkey skin side up and rub 1 tablespoon salt evenly under skin. Tuck wings under turkey. Tie legs together with kitchen twine, so that they are kind of pushed up and resting a bit on the lower portion of breast.

Combine remaining tablespoon salt, remaining teaspoon pepper, and baking powder in small bowl. Pat skin side of turkey dry with paper towels. Sprinkle surface of turkey with baking powder mixture and rub in mixture with hands, coating skin evenly. Transfer turkey to large roasting pan, skin side up. Place 1 onion half under each breast and thigh to elevate turkey off bottom of roasting pan. Allow turkey to stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees F. Roast turkey until instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in thickest part of breast and 170 degrees in thickest part of thigh, about 2½ to 3 hours (start checking after 2 hours because you never know). I had a 12lb bird and mine took about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to 169 in the breast. Yeah, I know, a little too done. I had it up on a rack, though, so I think it cooked fairly quick. Next time, I will use the onions and keep the bird down in the pan a little bit more.

Remove roasting pan from oven and allow turkey to rest in pan for at least 30 minutes or up to 1½ hours. Thirty minutes before returning turkey to oven, increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.

While turkey rests, bring cider, cranberries, molasses, vinegar, mustard, and ginger to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1½ cups, about 30 minutes.

Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into 2-cup liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible and discard solids. Transfer ½ cup glaze to small saucepan and set aside.

Brush turkey with one-third of glaze in measuring cup, transfer to oven, and roast 7 minutes. Brush on half of remaining glaze in measuring cup and roast additional 7 minutes. Brush on remaining glaze in measuring cup and roast until skin is evenly browned and crispy, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer turkey to cutting board and let rest 20 minutes. Now, when I did this, my turkey started getting quite dark, so I only did two 7-minute cycles of the glaze (using all the rest of the glaze, on the 2nd pass).

While turkey rests, remove onions from roasting pan and discard. Strain liquid from pan through fine-mesh strainer into fat separator (you should have about 2 cups liquid). Allow liquid to settle 5 minutes, then pour into saucepan with reserved glaze, discarding any remaining fat. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat and cook until slightly syrupy, about 10 minutes. You will taste it and say, “Oh geez. That’s just really fucking good.” Then you may taste it again, just to make sure. Yeah, if you keep doing that, you will taste it about ten times. Just stop. It’s good. Save it for the turkey.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter. Butter! It gets even better! Carve turkey and serve, passing sauce separately.

I recently had the very good fortune of being invited to a festive Pear Lunch hosted by Pear Bureau Northwest at Castagna Restaurant. This was completely awesome for a number of reasons, including I got to leave work early for a long lunch and Castagna is practically in my neighborhood, so jwa and I could just walk there. And although we go to Cafe Castagna pretty frequently, it’s been a while (a couple of years?) since we’ve been to the restaurant side. So that was very nice too.

I took some photos of the lunch and at the time, I was pleased to not be the only one photographing my food. Seriously, everyone had a camera and/or iphone out and was snapping pics before trying anything. I was quite amused.

I missed a photo of the pear juice flight but I have two images of . . . → Read More: December is National Pear Month: Pear Lunch at Castagna]]>

I recently had the very good fortune of being invited to a festive Pear Lunch hosted by Pear Bureau Northwest at Castagna Restaurant. This was completely awesome for a number of reasons, including I got to leave work early for a long lunch and Castagna is practically in my neighborhood, so jwa and I could just walk there. And although we go to Cafe Castagna pretty frequently, it’s been a while (a couple of years?) since we’ve been to the restaurant side. So that was very nice too.

I took some photos of the lunch and at the time, I was pleased to not be the only one photographing my food. Seriously, everyone had a camera and/or iphone out and was snapping pics before trying anything. I was quite amused.

I missed a photo of the pear juice flight but I have two images of the champagne cocktail (sparkling wine cocktail? Sometimes when someone hands me a glass, I forget to remember what it is…) we were greeted with at the door, so I think it all evens out.

First up: Comice Pear with Granola and Yogurt. Sounds so simple but in reality was art in a bowl. A heavy pottery bowl with dollops of an almost-savory tasting yogurt, pear ribbons, fresh herbs and then we were each given a crispy pear pouch filled with yogurt. So fun and unique!

See, here is the second shot of the champagne. It was also at this point, after perusing the menu and wine/beverage pairings that I texted work and mentioned that I would not be back that afternoon.

Now this, this is butter with a toasty, crumbly topping — this was the sensible choice. To the right, which I did not capture in all its glory is lardo (cured strips of fatback with rosemary and other herbs and spices). Oh my. We were also served these warm, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, rye rolls. With the lardo. That sort of melted into the bread. Oh, geez. So good.

Second course: Composition of Pear with Bartlett pear puree, smoked Red Anjou pear, walnuts and herbs. This was another work of edible art. The smoked pear was amazing, as was everything on the black, stone-like plate (walnuts, lettuce leaves, flower petals). The salad was paired with a glass of 2009 Domaine du Fresche Anjou Blanc.

Third course: Pork glazed in hazelnut butter with compressed pear, whipped Bosc pear and turnips. This was so delicious and paired with Wandering Aengus “Anthem” Pear Cider.

How delicious was it? Two photos worth of delightful, rich, porky, pear goodness.

Dessert: Roasted Seckel pear, fresh meringue, pear sorbet and pineapple sage. The biggest surprise for me here was the pineapple sage. It was wonderful with everything on the plate that I tried a bite of it with. From the sorbet, to the cute little meringues, to the almonds. Again, just stunning plating.

Aside from being a great afternoon, this meal definitely inspired me to hurry up and use the ten or so pears we got in our Thanksgiving CSA bag. I was a little at a loss and just stuck them in the refrigerator when I got them, but now I think I have some serious pear inspiration.

And, in case you were wondering, this is how you tell if a pear is ripe.

Okay, lazy! Here’s this finally. The cooking officially starts tonight with the making of the cranberry sauce. Puddings, cookie dough, hen brine, cauliflower gratin and roasted veggies all happen tomorrow.

Appetizers: Wheat Blini w/ Smoked Salmon — recipe from Dorie Greenspan, a French Fridays with Dorie adventure from last month.

Veggies & Balsamic Hummus Dip — pretty easy here. Using a store-bought, local hummus that I like. May thin it a bit with yogurt for easier delicate-vegetables dipping.

Rosemary Marcona Almonds – from Trader Joe’s. But I may try candy-ing some. For fun.

Dinner: Yeah, there’s no turkey this year. No. Turkey. Instead, everyone gets their own “tiny turkey.”

Cornish game Hens w/ Apple, Sage, Sausage Stuffing & Gravy – America’s Test Kitchen recipe. One day I will type up this recipe. It mainly consists of brining, stuffing, roasting breast-side down for a bit, turning breast-side up and basting with olive oil & balsamic . . . → Read More: Thanksgiving 2011]]>

Okay, lazy! Here’s this finally. The cooking officially starts tonight with the making of the cranberry sauce. Puddings, cookie dough, hen brine, cauliflower gratin and roasted veggies all happen tomorrow.

Appetizers:
Wheat Blini w/ Smoked Salmon — recipe from Dorie Greenspan, a French Fridays with Dorie adventure from last month.

Veggies & Balsamic Hummus Dip — pretty easy here. Using a store-bought, local hummus that I like. May thin it a bit with yogurt for easier delicate-vegetables dipping.

Rosemary Marcona Almonds – from Trader Joe’s. But I may try candy-ing some. For fun.

Dinner:
Yeah, there’s no turkey this year. No. Turkey. Instead, everyone gets their own “tiny turkey.”

Cornish game Hens w/ Apple, Sage, Sausage Stuffing & Gravy – America’s Test Kitchen recipe. One day I will type up this recipe. It mainly consists of brining, stuffing, roasting breast-side down for a bit, turning breast-side up and basting with olive oil & balsamic vinegar. I will be adding some butter/roasted garlic/sage leaves up under the skin. Whee!

Stuffing: Got some dried bread stuffing mix that I will doctor up with other stuff. Mainly garlic, sage, apples, sausage. Butter.

Roasted Root Vegetables w/ Balsamic & Lemon Vinaigrette – recipe from Bon Appétit. Made it last year for a work party and it was a big hit. Going to make these the day before and just reheat (crisp up) before serving. That way, I don’t have to worry about them the day of with my limited oven space and the very short rest time for the hens. Plus, reheating (in a microwave, even!) worked well at work last year. So, I imagine they’d be even better reheating in an oven.

Cranberry Sauce – simple, homemade. Using this recipe, which I’m going to make tonight.

Tuscan Kale and Parmesan Salad – We’ve had this a few times. The secret (I think) is to let the kale sit in the dressing for about 20 minutes. I’m going to add pinenuts to this version (and maybe use Asiago cheese).

Cauliflower Gratin w/ Mustard Sage Cornbread Crumbs – last minute addition. Did I mention the Mustard Cornbread Crumbs?

Dessert:
Baked Pumpkin Puddings – Another last minute change. These just look so good.

And so do these.

Okay, happy thanksgiving!

In case you’re looking for some pumpkin or Halloween recipes, I thought I’d just post links to all of the ones I’ve done so far. Enjoy!

Spider Cookies (Image above — but you probably figured that out…) Less time consuming than you’d think. Chocolate cookies, pretzels, melted chocolate, sprinkles and red frosting.

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good A Dorie Greenspan recipe in which one takes a small pumpkin, hollows it out, stuffs good things inside and bakes it for about two hours!

Sour Cream Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake with Struesel This recipe originally came from the back of a can of pumpkin. Best can I ever took the time to read.

Roasted Honey Parsnip Bisque Very good and creamy. Maybe not super Halloween-y, but there might be another holiday coming up soon this would be . . . → Read More: Have a Delicious Halloween!]]>

In case you’re looking for some pumpkin or Halloween recipes, I thought I’d just post links to all of the ones I’ve done so far. Enjoy!

Spider Cookies (Image above — but you probably figured that out…)
Less time consuming than you’d think. Chocolate cookies, pretzels, melted chocolate, sprinkles and red frosting.

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good
A Dorie Greenspan recipe in which one takes a small pumpkin, hollows it out, stuffs good things inside and bakes it for about two hours!

Sour Cream Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake with Struesel
This recipe originally came from the back of a can of pumpkin. Best can I ever took the time to read.

Roasted Honey Parsnip Bisque
Very good and creamy. Maybe not super Halloween-y, but there might be another holiday coming up soon this would be perfect for!

Feta and Pumpkin Casserole
Oh! This was really good! I had forgotten all about it. I need to make this again. This pumpkin/Halloween recap thing was a great idea!

Butternut Squash & Potato Gnocchi with Rosemary-Sage Parmesan Sauce
Oh. Well. Need to make this one again too…

Carving Pumpkins
Not a recipe, but some images from a pumpkin carving session. Something we’ll be doing again tonight, after some butternut squash enchiladas (recipe soon)!

Hmmm, I think I may do more of these themed recaps every so often. I’ve forgotten about a lot of the recipes I’ve made over the years!

These were truly epic lamb burgers. A few factors that made them so good — the lamb was very local. I got it a couple of weeks ago (frozen!) at the Flying Fish Company, which is conveniently located about five blocks from our house on the weekend. Yeah, I know it’s lamb and not fish but if you stop by there you’ll find they have all manner of delicious and local things in the freezer that you can buy.

The lamb was from Hawley Lamb Ranch in Cottage Grove, OR. They don’t seem to have a website, but wow, was this great lamb! I will definitely be getting more soon!

Another awesome thing about these burgers is the cheese I used. It is leftover roadtrip cheese from Beehive Cheese, just outside of Ogden, UT and was local while we got it. My burger had Barely Buzzed . . . → Read More: Wondering What to Grill Today? How About Herbed Lamb Burgers!]]>

These were truly epic lamb burgers. A few factors that made them so good — the lamb was very local. I got it a couple of weeks ago (frozen!) at the Flying Fish Company, which is conveniently located about five blocks from our house on the weekend. Yeah, I know it’s lamb and not fish but if you stop by there you’ll find they have all manner of delicious and local things in the freezer that you can buy.

The lamb was from Hawley Lamb Ranch in Cottage Grove, OR. They don’t seem to have a website, but wow, was this great lamb! I will definitely be getting more soon!

Another awesome thing about these burgers is the cheese I used. It is leftover roadtrip cheese from Beehive Cheese, just outside of Ogden, UT and was local while we got it. My burger had Barely Buzzed while jwa chose some Habanero for his burger. If you ever find yourself driving around Uintah, UT looking for Beehive Cheese, here’s a helpful tip — turn by the Best Western.

Finally, in a total overachiever move, I made the buns we used here. Hooray!

Herbed Lamb Burgers with Balsamic Mayonnaise
1/2 lb ground lamb
2 tbsp finely diced red onion
1 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
1 tsp chopped rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp salt
A few grinds of ground black
1/4 tsp + 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp mayonnaise
two buns, mustard, spinach, tomato & cheese for garnish

Combine the ground lamb through the black pepper in a bowl. Add 1/4 tsp of balsamic vinegar and mix to combine. Shape into two equal-sized patties.

Heat a grill or a grill pan and when hot, cook for about 4 minutes per side. Add cheese for the last two minutes on the last side, if desired.

Mix the remaining 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar into the mayonnaise, and after warming the buns, divide the mayo between the buns. Spread a little mustard on the other half of each bun. Top with the spinach and tomato.

When the cheese is melted and the lamb burgers are done, put those on top of the spinach. Then, pour yourself a beer, because you’re ready to eat!